Chain Mail

Thump! ‘Oh, what is that!’, Peter said. Peter peered around the side of the door to see what was there. It was a Sunday morning and peter was off to work. Peter loves a Sunday shift only for the money. Double pay and that sounds good for Peter’s pocket and the landlord. ‘Now I wonder who has sent me this’, Peter thought, as he examined the box for clues. The box a had a slight dent on it from collision with the door but no holes or gaps to peek in unfortunately. Peter was slightly wary of the box. There was no name or address from where it came from, so it was not from a post office. Someone just delivered it here.

Peter brought it inside the house and thought to himself, ‘hmm... maybe it’s an early birthday present’? Then he thought, ‘nah my birthday is not for another two months.’ Peter wasn’t even keeping track on the time. It was 07:10am and he was already running late. Peter decided he would bring it along to work. ‘I’ll open this on my break’ peter said. ‘Or maybe I should leave it till later… no ok I’ll bring it’ Peter said. I can open it with Callum at work.

Peter arrived at work. He was thirty minutes late and as usual it was like the end of the world. It was only eight in the morning, but it is always so busy at the start of a day in a large tertiary hospital. Peter had been working in St. Annas Hospital as a Patient Support for 10 years. He has never been late but there was so much drama over it today. Callum his best mate was coming down the corridor wheeling an elderly lady who kept asking where they were going constantly. “The jobs are all lined up for you peter ha-ha!’ said Callum. ‘Oh, don’t I already know,’ said peter. ‘I’ll talk to you at break Peter’ Callum said. ‘All good, see you then,’ said Peter. Peter checked in, grabbed his work phone and off he went.

Break time couldn’t have come any sooner. ‘Two hours in and six to go’ peter thought. ‘Yeah, when this day finishes, I’m having myself a cold beer and two servings of loaded bacon cheese fries.’ Callum said. ‘Ha-ha now I know why your doctor is concerned about your blood results. That does sound good though.’ Peter admitted. ‘Yeah, I might even join you on that one’ Peter said. ‘Oh hey! Check out this parcel I got this morning’ Peter exclaimed. Peter plucked it out of his backpack and plonked it on the table in front of them. ‘Well why didn’t you open it this morning’ Callum said. ‘I was running late’ Peter blurted. ‘Yeah ok… Well open it’ Callum said. ‘What if it’s something sinister that I really don’t need to see’. ‘Like something weird I don’t know about you ha-ha’ Callum laughed.

While fumbling to open the box a small envelope fell onto the table. It must have been stuck under the box and I didn’t see it Peter thought. ‘Oh, look at that then!’ Callum said. Peter opened the small piece of parchment. Inside was a handwritten letter. The following is what was written in the letter.

To the reader,

I hope your day is going well. You have received this very important box today. Lucky you! I have a very important job for you and unfortunately it doesn’t involve opening this box. This box is to be sent to another random address at your discretion and as to who you send it to is up to you. This box may have been all over the world before it has reached you or it could have been only just sent to you. This is not for me to know. Your only job is to send this on to another person. You might know the person you send this to, or you might not know the person. It could even be your neighbor for example. The choice is yours. However, you must send this parcel within three days, or you will break the chain. Do not be that person. This letter has a destination. This is not for you to open and must be sent onto another person within 3 days. I will know if you have opened it. The box needs to be kept as neat as you possibly can. Furthermore, when you are delivering to the next person you also need to consider the safety of where you leave the box. If it is not safe to leave the box at the receiver’s location or if you think they will find out who it came from like yourself then do not leave it there. Choose another receiver. It can be anyone remember. Best of luck and remember to re-write this letter if it gets damaged.

Yours Truly,

‘Ok that’s weird’ peter said slowly. ‘Oh, I remember getting some chain letter before when I was a kid but not a chain box ha-ha that’s a bit different’ Callum said. ‘You got to send it though buddy. That friend of mine didn’t send it and the next day his dog died, and he had all the bad luck in the world after that.’ Callum said. ‘Oh, ha-ha oh I didn’t know you were so superstitious. Nah screw that I can’t be bothered.’ Peter guffawed. No man sent the box! Why not? Callum scuffed. ‘Yeah, yeah whatever. This is just stupid like someone is pranking me or something. It’s like for kids. Did some kid send this to me? Ha-ha. As like a joke.’ Peter said. ‘Right, I guess we better get back to work’ Peter said solemnly. ‘Alright but don’t forget to send it!’ Callum said. ‘Yeah, ok then,’ said Callum.

Peter was not going to send the box. He left it on the kitchen table and got dinner sorted. The fridge was looking bare. A steak and a few mini potatoes were the only items left that looked substantial enough to fill him. He left a mental note to get shopping done tomorrow. Peter glanced over at the box on the table every so often and wondered if he should just open it. Walking towards the table Peter thought, ‘I’m going to open this thing’. As he picked it up, he thought otherwise. ‘No, actually I’m going to send it to Callum or maybe I’ll send it to Sean’ Peter thought. Sean was a neighbor across the road which Peter had one to many run-ins with. ‘Yeah, I don’t even know why I am fussing over this I’ll just give it to Sean, Peter thought dolefully.’

After finishing dinner Peter sneaked on over to Sean’s place and left the Parcel at his doorstep. Upon returning to is home he had a shower and got ready for bed.

It was the next morning and Peter glared out is front bedroom window. The box was gone so Sean must have taken it. ‘Ok that’s good. He should get some amusement out of that.’ Peter thought. Peter got ready for work and went out on his same commute to work he had done every day for 10 years. No change. He told Callum he sent the box on to his neighbor. They had some discussions on it and that was it. After a full day of work Peter forgot about his little encounter with the strange little box.

The next day Peter went to work just same old same old. Upon arriving at work Callum said, ‘Hey I watched the news this morning and you won’t believe it” Callum gasped. ‘I don’t watch the news’ Peter said gruffly. Well, you should see this…,’ said Callum. Callum presented his phone to Peter who took it quickly and had a look at what was playing on the small iPhone screen. It was the morning news on channel 9. His Neighbor from across the road was on. ‘Now what the hell is he on the news for’ Peter thought. And then he saw the box in his hand. Sean was describing how he didn’t know where it came from and that he couldn’t believe his luck. ‘Luck?’ Peter thought. The scene went back and forth between Sean and the news reporter until he eventually found out what he was talking about. Inside that box was money and not just a bit of money it was a lot of money.

Peter was beside himself. He thought to himself, 'I should have just opened that darned box'. He was so outrageously jealous he had to leave work early. It overpowered him and surged through him like a torrent of water. He arrived home and to his dismay all of the action was still in full swing. So much cheering and fuss over Sean. Peter was livid.

In a heated state of mind he got out of his car, slammed the door and trotted on over to the cacophony before him. There was no planning involved as to what he was going to say or do. The next 10 minutes went in a blink of an eye.

He could smell grass and hear the rush of voices. The ground beneath him felt cool and hard. Peter tried to slowly open his eyes. Through watery and stinging eyes he could see legs and then Sean's face peering down at him in disgust. His head pounded ungodly hard as he tried to figure out what had just happened. He was very mad but then all of a sudden Sean reached down to him and said, 'Peter are you alright', you don't seem to be yourself at all'. 'I'm fine', Peter said. Peter really had no idea what happened. Sean explained to him that when he came over to him in a really mad rage telling him that he gave him the box, he then went to punch him in the face but when he did that he actually tripped over a rock and fell to the ground hitting it hard. Sean was very worried about Peter. He said, 'Man I was just going to go over to your house with this reporter when I saw you arrive home and congratulate you too'. Peter was wondering what he meant. Sean explained that in the box there was a little note which read "whoever has opened this box must divide the money with the last person who gave them the box so as to bring luck upon themselves' Sean was delighted to find out who gave him the box so that he could enjoy half the money. So in the end the box had a story to tell. Whoever has the wherewithall to dare to dream will in the end win.